Project Planning Services

A credible schedule protects you in two ways. 

1. Firstly, it ensures you are able to deliver in the prescribed time, with the prescribed resources, steering away from the need for a claim.
2. However, claims do often occur, in which case the project schedule is the first port of call, which means your whole claim/dispute will be thrown out the window if your schedule is discredited.

We analyse your schedule to determine its general health and report as to where the risks lie and where you may be most vulnerable. We can also further assist in fixing these issues.

Placing an emphasis on good quality tender schedules means better cash outflow projections, substantiated activity duration, accurately predicting project requirements and facilitates more accurate outsourcing strategies.

A good tender schedule can stimulate your client's confidence in your ability to do the work and do it well. PLUS, your chances at actually making money off the project will significantly increase, having included resources integration, cost control and all the finer detail in your schedule.

Let us assist in building a credible tender schedule that will lay the best foundation from which to kick off the project.

Better cash flow-out projections enables role players to make far better projections concerning cash out flow. Therefore, you can focus on means to break payment down into meaningful deliverables that are more easily agreed upon.

Many organizations embarking on a new project either have over-extended internal resources, due to multiple projects overlapping, or they simply cannot afford to employ specific skills on a full-time basis due to the general absence of continuous project work. For project-driven organizations this is true during the tender stage as well as during project execution. Sometimes project durations are very short, 2-3 months, making it difficult to attract good skills. Also, consider that a production organization implementing its own projects hardly ever employs project control staff on a full-time basis.

The best solution would therefore be for such organizations to employ these skills on an as-and-when required basis. As-and-when implies being available to provide support at short notice and through short sprints.

Profactaplan strives to meet our clients' needs, which is why we share our personnel between active projects where practical (clients are billed proportionately), we incorporate non-standard hours at standards rates (evenings/weekends) and we work remotely to create win-win situations for all concerned.

So, you cannot justify one or more project controls individuals to be appointed on-site to your project on a full-time basis, but you do not have the need for expert skills in relation to monitoring, evaluation, forecasting and reporting. You have personnel deployed on your project that actively manage the project. You have project team members that collate information in relation to physical works performed, man-hours expended, issues affecting the works, etc. 

We can support you by providing the expert skills your project needs in one of two ways: 

• Fully remote: Your on-site personnel provide all the input and our personnel processes this remotely
• Partially Remote: Our personnel perform periodic site visits to gather, collate and verify information and processes this remotely.

Consider this your Project Planning Office. From tender phase, to close out, your project schedule is handled by our expert team of Project Planners. From schedule development, to updating, to monitoring & controlling, to reporting, we have your back.

We are on-site full time to monitor progress, meet with he execution team on a regular basis, meet and update the client on a regular basis, run forecasts for the Project Manager and his team and raise flags for any potentials issues.

Want to sleep sound without any worries with regards to your project schedule? This is the option for you.

In relation to claims and disputes, we have experience on both sides of the fence. Whether you need to prove that you are entitled to extended timelines and / or remuneration, or that you are not obligated to grant relief and / or compensate, you need to have both sound knowledge of project planning principles to dissect the schedule, and good contract knowledge to prove your case. 

We have decades of experience doing project planning to international standards, not just producing outputs from the software, but actually understanding the inner workings thereof and how to interpret the results. 

Having handled time extensions with associated cost claims both in NEC and FIDIC environments, we have had successful recoveries in excess of R400 million for out clients.

That being said, we are not a "hired gun". Hired guns are consultants who do not analyse the evidence but simply try to get a desired outcome, charging you every step of the way regardless of your chances. We analyse the evidence and will be honest with regards to your eligibility. We are skilled at forensic planning, delving into the fact to build a case based on truth and evidence.

If you need more than project planning, project controls is the way to go. 

A basic Project Control service covers Planning & Scheduling, Estimating and Cost Control. In this instance we establish the performance management baseline and continues to evaluate actual performance against the baseline with regular reforecasting, to constantly gauge the most likely outcome of your project costs and timelines. 

Our Project Control service can be further expanded to incorporate Risk Management, Document Control and possibly other knowledge areas. 

Everything you need to manage the triple constraint (time, cost, quality/scope) in one service